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Plant for the production of sulphuric acid from pyrites flotation concentrates was commissioned at Cockle Creek during 1956, to meet increasing demands for commercial acid and superphosphate. Pyrite was chosen as raw material because of the uncertain supplyposition of imported brimstone and the desirability of utilising domestic sulphur.Desulphurisation of the pyrite is performed by two 40-ton per day roasters of the Turbulent Layer type operated under licence from the Badische Analin and Soda Fabrik (B.A.S.F.) organisation. These units are the first of their kind commissioned in the southernhemisphere. Pyrite is fed to the roasters in the as-received un-dried condition. Waste heat steam production is coupled with electricity generation within the plant. Sulphur dioxide is produced at comparatively high strengths and cleaned by conventional cyclone and hot electro-filter equipment.The acid unit has a capacity of 100 mono tons of sulphuric acid per day and includes cooling and wash towers, mist precipitators, a single stage drying tower, 4-pass oxidation section and absorption system.INTRODUCTIONSulphuric acid has been manufactured at Cockle Creek Works since 1913, when the first chamber nitration plant was commissioned. The raw material was brimstone roasted in Herreschoff furnaces. Since that time three additional chamber units have been constructed and have produced acid from brimstone, zinc concentrates, pyrites and -spent oxide, according to changing economic and supply factors.Three chamber units are still in operation. Contact processes have become increasingly important since the first Schroder-Grillo unit was commissioned in 1923. Six of these 5-ton per day units were operating in the mid-thirties, but have since been demolished. Two 15 ton Chemico hot gas contact units commenced operation in 1937 and 1938, and although modified, are still in service.The increasing demand over recent years for sulphuric...

Jan 1, 1957

By Edward Walter

Rock excavation for tunneling projects occurs on a regular basis in the Cleveland area. These tunnels are being constructed to increase the capacity of the sanitary sewer system. Controlled blasting must be performed to remove rock in a number of phases of the project. The rock excavation for construction of a junction chamber is just one case where blasting is the safest and most efficient method available.

Jan 1, 2001

By William J. Neely

Augercast piles are formed by drilling a continuous-flight auger into the ground and, on reaching the required depth, sand-cement grout or concrete is pumped down the hollow stem as the auger is withdrawn. The sides of the hole are supported at all times by the soil-filled auger, eliminating the need for temporary casing or bentonite slurry. The augercast piling method is fast and economical; there is no vibration, very little noise and, if executed properly, no ground displacements during installation. The method is well suited to sands which are easy to drill and are readily transported up the auger. Relatively little attention has been given to augercast piles in the literature which might be part of the reason for the considerable variations in local practice, building code requirements and design methods. The purpose of this paper is to discuss some of the features of augercast pile installation that are known to influence both the structural and geotechnical capacity of the pile, to evaluate several empirical design methods and to look at some important aspects of quality control of augercast pile installation.

Jan 1, 1990

By Paul D. Tomlingson

During the next several months, SME’s E-Newsletter will feature 15 articles on maintenance management. The articles may be read online or downloaded and distributed within your organization. They will address maintenance management topics, offer guidelines to mining managers and provide techniques that the maintenance manager can use. The articles will stress equipment management, a strategy that the mining industry has accepted as a modern replacement for outdated maintenance practices. Equipment management is the mutually supportive interaction of all mine departments as they establish equipment needs, procure equipment, test, commission, operate, maintain, modify and eventually replace equipment. The successful application of equipment management principles can quickly and reliably produce cost reduction and performance improvement results while providing a dependable way of sustaining them. Equipment management embraces modern management techniques. These include reliability-centered maintenance, life-cycle costing, capital performance, the effective use of information and productive organizational models.

Jan 1, 2003

By D. Bienstock

As part of the development of the hot-carbonate scrubbing process by the Bureau of Mines, the corrosion rates of steel in boiling solutions of potassium carbonate saturated with carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide were determined, and the effectiveness of various inhibitors was evaluated by Bureau researchers. The highly corrosive solution of carbonate saturated with carbon dioxide can be inhibited with a 0.2-percent concentration of either potassium chromate or sodium metavanadate. Solutions of carbonate saturated with carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide are mildly corrosive, 0.01 inch per year. Complete absence of corrosion is obtained with 0.2 percent sodium metavanadate or 0.15 percent vanadium pentoxide. Oxidizing inhibitors such as potassium chromate are destroyed in the alkaline sulfide mixture, N-alkyl trimethylene diamines, at a concentration of 0.1 percent, lower the corrosion rate to about 0.005. Sodium metasilicate, at a concentration of 0.6 percent, completely inhibits the corrosion but may deposit free silica in the system. Commercial cladding materials such as the epoxy coatings also prevent corrosion.

Jan 1, 1962

Supplement to Proceedings Number 120, December, 1940. Drawings accompanying paper by T M Carey 'The Surface Plant at the Zinc Corporation Mine, Broken Hill'

Jan 1, 1940

By H. Gumede

The occurrence of fracturing due to high stress levels is a major factor in hangingwall stability in deep level gold mine stopes. However, rock falls cannot be the result of these fractures alone. Rock falls can result only from the occurrence of unstable rock blocks defined by the interaction of the stress induced fractures and naturally occurring geological planes of weakness. These planes include bedding planes and joint set planes. However, there is a general lack of information on the characteristics of these planes (orientations, spacings and lengths)?it does not appear that any such systematic and quantified information, if collected, has been published. To remedy this situation to some extent, joint mapping exercises have been carried out in several geological environments in two gold mines. The data collected on joint geometry included orientation, spacing and length, and this information is included in the paper. In addition, the paper describes the use of the data collected to evaluate the potential for rock falls and the probability of failure of stope support

Jan 1, 2007

By S. Surapunt, C. M. Nyamai, K. Itagaki

"The use of liquid copper as a medium for zinc extraction has been used in the Warner Process as a method of processing zinc-lead sulphide ore. The recovery of zinc metal is based on the reaction:ZnS(s) + 2Cu(l) = Zn(g) + Cu2S(l)In this method, thermodynamic and phase equilibria investigations of the Cu2S-FeS-ZnS and Cu2S-PbS-ZnS systems are of importance and form the basis for the liquid sulphide phase which appears as a product and is used as a solvent in the Warner Process. Phase relations in the Cu2S-FeS-ZnS and Cu2S-PbS-ZnS ternary systems were determined experimentally at 1473°K to provide a fundamental basis for the new zinc smelting process. The results show that the solid solubility of ZnS in the two systems is very small (2 wt% to 3 wt% ZnS in FeS, 4 wt% ZnS in Cu2S for the Cu2S-FeS-ZnS system; less than 0.5 wt% ZnS in both PbS and Cu2S for the Cu2S-PbS-ZnS system). The Raoultian Activity Coefficient of ZnS in the liquid mixtures and the vapour pressure of zinc over the matte in both systems is relatively large (?° = 7.7 – 15.8, Pzn(atm) = 0.088 – 1.026 for the Cu2S-FeS-ZnS system; ?° = 8.9 – 12.9, PZn(atm) = 0.075 – 0.214 for the Cu2S-PbS-ZnS system). On the FeS-ZnS join, the only phases detected are FeS and iron-rich sphalerite (Zn, Fe)S. The binary join mixture occurs at about 92 wt% FeS-8 wt% ZnS at 1473°K. Electron microprobe examination of the quenched samples indicate about 47 wt% to 48 wt% FeS in sphalerite and about 2 wt% to 3 wt% ZnS in the iron sulphide phase. On the Cu2S-ZnS join, microprobe analysis reveals that the maximum solubility is 4 wt% Zn in liquid Cu2S and 3.6 wt% Cu in solid ZnS. In the Cu2S-PbS-ZnS ternary system, microprobe analysis of the quenched samples indicate on average, 5 wt% ZnS in the liquid phase region. The only phases detected on the PbS- ZnS join are ZnS and PbS. The eutectic phase contains, on average, 13 wt% ZnS. The phase relationships, very low solid solubilities of zinc sulphide in the liquid mixtures of both Cu2S-FeS-ZnS and Cu2S-PbS-ZnS systems, coupled with the high Raoultian Activity Coefficient of ZnS as well as the high vapour pressure of zinc over matte all favour the partitioning of zinc metal into the vapour phase. This new process is cost effective and bypassesthe expensive and tedious conventionaltechnique of zinc production involving oxidationof the sulphide ore by roasting followed bya reduction process to extract the zinc. Theresults indicate that a new zinc smelting technologyusing the Warner Process would bemore efficient and preferable over the traditionalmethods of zinc extraction."

Jan 1, 2002

By Jim Gunderson

Jan 1, 2004

By Laura Bastemante, Bruce Vandenberg, Fred Huettig

Recent advances in solid-state, field portable, fast framing video camera systems and PC based frame capture hardware now allow blast imaging up to loo0 frames per second. Up to 8 seconds of data can be stored directly into the unit, downloaded to a PC or archived to a standard VCR without data compression. Since no film processing is involved, motion analysis can be performed instantly and on-site within a few minutes. This paper will describe the design features and applications of the KineView 1256P system and compare these with the analogous aspects of film based cameras.

Jan 1, 1997

Recent developments in diamond drilling practice have been chiefly 'concerned with modifications in drill design and 'operating technique whereby an increase in daily footage rates and reduced footage costs have been achieved without any marked improvements in the recovery of core. This trend is perhaps due to the general acceptance by the mining and drilling engineer alike of the belief that diamond drilling has definite limitations in exploratory work on mineral deposits characterized by irregularities in continuity and grade, such a belief arising from the fact that drilling technique has not yet evolved coring devices to ensure the full recovery of the rock and mineral formations penetrated.Current diamond drilling operations at Moonta and Wallaroo Mines, carried out by the South Australian Department of Mines, have attained remarkable results in completely eliminating core-loss by the use of a special double-tube core barreI.It is considered that assays of borehole samples taken with this special barrel have a reliability comparable, if not superior to that of similarly situated mine samples and, provided they are spaced satisfactorily, can be used as, a basis for calculating tonnage and grade. Formerly, with only partial core-recoveries, positive borehole results on narrow irregular lodes, such as those in the Moonta and Wallaroo Mines, could be accepted mainly as indications of the presence of mineralization, and could have only a limited bearing on estimates of ore reserves.The value of this special double-tube core-barrel lies In the fact that it guarantees good core recovery and, therefore, good samples, and eliminates the need for sludge-sampling, which is prone to give unreliable assay results from several causes, such as gravity concentration in the bottom of the hole and return water losses which cannot be overcome.In view of the increasing demand for minerals and the probability that the search for them will be carried on largely by boring, it is felt that it would be of interest and value to direct the attention of mining engineers to core-recovery results obtained by diamond drilling plants in South Australia and the features of the special core-barrel, designed by the writer, which has made this possible. Also, the writer is desirous of placing on record two other core-recovery devices designed to extract accurate samples in relatively soft or unconsolidated formations. The latter are used with percussion and calyx plants, respectively and their value has been proven on phosphate rock and coal deposits in South Australia.

Jan 1, 1943

By Orr C. W

Continuing the systematic investigation of the influence of elements on the properties of lead(1). If the effects of additions of copper (up to 0.3%) on Port Pirie lead have now been determined in so far as creep rate is concerned.The results in the present paper contain also a survey of the influence of copper on the micro-structure of lead, a feature which has not appeared in the previous papers of this series. Further, it has now become known that creep is but little related to the more usually determined properties such as hardness and tensile strength. Since, however, these properties are of considerable importance in connection with the fabrication and use of this metal. Brinell hardness determinations have also been made and are here included.It is becoming more and more realised also that to be useful, creep data should refer to stresses of the order of those used in practice. This is due to the fact that as soon as deformation takes place, the properties of the metal are automatically changed. Lead does, of course, creep during industrial use, and probably (in lead chamber construction for example) extensions of the order of 5%...

Jan 1, 1938

By Joseph Clare, Elizabeth Anderson, Mike McGinley, Ron Hines, Judy Cochran

The South Lake Union Pipelines contract for King County Wastewater Treatment Division and Seattle Public Utilities in Seattle, Washington included three 1.8 m (72-in)inside diameter microtunneled pipeline segments totaling about 793 m (2,600 lf).Tunnel alignments were within street right-of-way of heavily traveled urban roadways. Project challenges recognized in the design included: high groundwater levels; contaminated soil and groundwater; variable soil conditions, including fill; and timber piles and other obstructions remaining from historic land uses. The tunnels were built using a Lovat MTS Microtunneling machine, beginning in spring 2003. Conditions encountered during construction presented additional challenges beyond those anticipated in the design process, and were successfully addressed by the owners, designer, and construction management consultant all working with the contractor. Problems included highly variable soil conditions, cracking of reinforced concrete pipe joints during pipe jacking, a timber pile trestle uncovered during shaft construction, and obstructions encountered in the second and third microtunnel runs.

Jan 1, 2005

By Carl Hendricks

Aquila Mining Systems Ltd., is the world leader in drill monitoring, control and GPS-based machine navigation systems for the mining industry. This paper will review the design and application of AQUILA’s drill monitoring, control and positioning systems currently in use throughout the world and some of the benefits that derive through their use. In 1993, AQUILA became the first company to install a high precision, cm level, real-time GPS receiver on a blasthole drill. In fact, this was likely the first application of GPS on any form of production mining equipment. To date, AQUILA has installed over 90 GPS based drill monitoring systems worldwide. Since 1992 AQUILA has continued to lead in the advancement of new technologies for drilling including real-time geology recognition and automated drilling control systems. The AQUILA DMseries drill systems offer mines the ability to collect and transmit to the mine office; drill production statistics, ore and waste intersections, exact collar elevations, hole positions and depths, maintenance information and consumables tracking. Unique office software developed by AQUILA provides an encompassing Windows environment within which to manage and coordinate all aspects of data communications and information management between the drills and various mine departments. AQUILA and Caterpillar, along with Mincom and Trimble Navigation are partners in a technology alliance that is providing the surface mining industry with vehicle tracking and navigation systems for all mobile production equipment.

Jan 1, 2000

Energy Dissipation in Long-Distance Slurry Pipelines

Sep 13, 2010

By S. Vivek

An atomic force microscope (AFM) was used to measure the surface forces between silica surfaces immersed in solutions of hydrolysable cations and/or sodium oleate. Hydrophobic forces were observed at the pH range where the concentration of the singly-charged hydroxo-complexes (CaOH+ or MgOH+) in solution is the highest. In the absence of oleate, the adsorption of the hydroxo-complexes was indicated by the disappearance of the repulsive hydration force. These results suggest that the hydrolysable cations adsorb on silica as singly-charged hydroxo-complexes. Based on the results obtained in the present work, a model for the adsorption of hydrolysable cations has been developed.

Jan 1, 2009

By Donald A. Bruce

Various types of contemporary Deep Mixing Method (DMM) techniques have been used in the United States since 1986. Such techniques owe their origins to Japanese and Scandinavian developments, which began almost three decades ago. The growing demands of urban infrastructure development and rehabilitation have created a very active and rapidly expanding market demand in the United States especially since the early 1990s, and there is a clear need for a new and fundamental review of the surprisingly large number of DMM techniques that are being used domestically, or are available in other parts of the world. Following a summary tracing the historical development of DMM, and a generic classification of applications, the paper provides a review of each of the many different proprietary methods, which the authors have identified during preparation of an international survey funded by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Data are also provided on commercial aspects of the various DMM techniques worldwide.

Jan 1, 1998

By Mark R. Svinkin

Construction-induced vibrations may be detrimental to adjacent structures and sensitive electronics operating nearby. Construction vibration sources have a wide range of energy and velocity, as a function of time, transmitted on the ground. Analysis of existing methods for predicting ground and structure vibrations shows that empirical equations provide calculations only of amplitudes of vertical soil vibrations with insufficient accuracy. This paper presents the application of the impulse response function concept to solve the geotechnical problem of predicting ground and structure vibrations before installation of vibration sources. Impulse response functions reflect real behavior of soil and structures without the investigation of soil and structure properties. A procedure is presented to compute predicted ground and structure vibrations. Good agreement is found between predicted and measured records.

Jan 1, 1999

By Jack Zhang, Yunguo Tang, Baodong Zhao

"Rare earth elements (REEs) have numerous key applications in both traditional and advanced technologies. A shortage of some critical REEs is expected due to the discrepancy between the REE abundance in REE deposits and the REE demand from the market. For example, Neodymium, Europium, Terbium, Dysprosium, Erbium and Yttrium are expected to be in short supply. REE recovery and separation from secondary resources such as uranium wastes, heavy mineral sands, and recycled materials can balance the shortfall in a cost effective way.The Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) is engaged in the development and commercialization of complete REE recovery and separation technologies in Canada. One of SRC’s newest developments is the design and commissioning of a heavy rare earth (HREE) separation pilot plant. The pilot plant uses hundreds of stages of solvent extraction (SX) to produce high purity individual HREEs from both primary and secondary resources.This paper presents the design of an HREE recovery process for the particular case of uranium processing wastes. The separation results of a group separation are reported and discussed, as well as the issues and the challenges of the development, commissioning and operation of the continuous SX pilot plant.IntroductionSignificant amounts of strategic specialty heavy rare earth elements (HREEs) are found in uranium wastes in Saskatchewan. It estimated that about 47 tonne/a of heavy rare earth element oxides (HREO) including 27 tonne/a of Y2O3, plus 6 tonne/a of Sc2O3 are in the raffinate of every uranium mill for potential recovery. Since the HREEs are already in the raffinate, cost effective HREE production is promising in Saskatchewan.Selective precipitation including nutraulization, oxalate and double-salts precipitation, as well as sulfide precipitation, ion exchange (IX) and SX are commonly used technologies for the recovery and purification of REE solution. REE oxalate precipitation is an effective technology to remove Fe, Al, Ca, Si and other impurities by taking the advantages of the solubility difference between oxalates of REEs and impurities in acidic solution (Xu, 2005)."

Jan 1, 2017

By M. Z. A. Bakar

To investigate the differences in the radial drag pick cutting performance in dry and saturated sandstone, a suite of linear rock cutting test was performed using linear rock cutting machine (LRCM). Experimental results of 50 data passes, incorporating 350 data cuts were used to compute cutting, normal and side forces required for determination of other performance related parameters. Although the forces required to cut the dry and saturated rock were in congruence for most of the spacing and depths of cut combinations; but the overall averaged cutting and normal forces for saturated rock cutting were found to be 9.9% and 9.4% respectively higher than the dry rock cutting. The increase in the overall averaged forces was attributed to strength variability of one of the saturated block affecting the overall forces. The side forces experienced a negligible drop in saturated rock cutting. An increase of 28% and 9% in the actual and nominal specific energy values respectively was also recorded when cutting saturated rock as compared to the dry rock cutting. The increase in saturated rock specific energy is attributed to production of large amount of fines and few large sized chips directly contributing towards increase in specific energy. The optimum s/d ratio for dry rock tests was found to lie between 6 and 8 whereas for saturated rock cuts this value lied between 5 and 9.

Jan 1, 2012